Features

10 Flashy Finishes By ONE's Warriors Competing In The Philippines

November 06, 2017

Another legendary night in Manila, Philippines, is looming, as ONE Championship holds ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD on Friday, 10 November.

The show, which airs live from the Mall Of Asia Arena, features hometown hero and ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang defending his belt against ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin Nguyen, who could become the first-ever two-division world champion in the promotion.

Plus, with a co-main event featuring ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes defending his title against local favorite Danny Kingad and an undercard full of explosive athletes, this will undoubtedly be the biggest martial arts event in the country’s history.

To help you get ready for a legendary night of action, we have compiled 11 amazing finishes from the heroes who will be competing at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD.

Folayang endured Aoki’s vaunted grappling prowess in the opening stanza and for much of the second, but he soon started finding a home for his famed striking arsenal. Soon after the third round began, “Landslide” dropped the Japanese legend with a perfectly-timed flying knee, and followed up with strikes until the referee waved the bout off.

Martin Nguyen Knocking Out Marat Gafurov

Nearly two years following a devastating 41-second loss to then-champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov, Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen (9-1) earned his way into a title rematch by stopping four consecutive contenders in the first round.

At ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS this past August, the Vietnamese-Australian showed just how great he truly is. After fending off Gafurov’s rigorous grappling and constant rear-naked choke attempts, Nguyen scouted out his nemesis, and once the Russian’s lead hand dropped, knocked him out with a powerful overhand right to capture the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

Adriano Moraes Tapping Out Tilek Batyrov

Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes (16-2) was preparing to meet Andrew Leone for the interim ONE Flyweight World Championship at ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD in August 2016, but an untimely injury forced the American to withdraw, and Kyrgyzstan’s Tilek Batyrov filled in.

The last-minute change would not matter. Moraes was driven, and spent the contest grounding the tough Batyrov. He eventually secured the match-ending rear-naked choke with 11 seconds to spare in the second frame.

Hayato Suzuki Submitting Joshua Pacio In Impressive Debut

Hayato Suzuki (17-0-2) made an impeccable promotional debut at ONE: KINGS & CONQUERORS in August when he faced former ONE Strawweight World Title challenger Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.

Though Pacio pushed the action with his trademark striking, the Japanese wrestling standout quickly plowed through the Filipino’s kicks. He then latched onto Pacio, and immediately brought him to the canvas to set up the rear-naked choke. With the hold tight, “The Passion” was forced to tap three minutes into the first round.

Alex Silva’s Kneebar Against Ruel Catalan

Silva was relentless in his mission to take the Filipino wushu master down. The Brazilian succeeded halfway through the opening stanza, and as both warriors jockeyed for better positioning, he let his BJJ world champion credentials shine and pulled off a kneebar submission.

Kevin Belingon’s Knockout Of Reece McLaren

In a battle between former ONE Bantamweight World Title challengers, the Philippines’ Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon (16-5) brought the thunder to Australia’s Reece “Lightning” McLaren at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS.

Kevin Chung’s Spectacular ONE Debut

Aung La N Sang’s Crazy 88 teammate Kevin “Oldboy” Chung may have only just debuted in ONE Championship, but by the time he finished China’s Zhong Qing Ya in the second round of their catchweight bout at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION this past June, he left the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium with an army of new fans.

The Filipino was riding a three-bout skid when he met former world title challenger Yago Bryan at ONE: TOTAL VICTORY this past September. Bryan was cruising his way towards a unanimous decision thanks to his revamped ground game, but Doliguez laid it all to waste with a one-punch knockout late in the third to get his first win in the promotion.

Doliguez will now attempt to regain lost momentum when he meets fellow compatriot Joshua Pacio in Manila.

Joshua Pacio Choking Out Kritsada Kongsrichai

Joshua Pacio may be known as a wushu dynamo who throws heavy leather like the rest of Team Lakay, but he demonstrated his grappling prowess at ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD back in August 2016.

“The Passion,” as he is called, may have been out-grappled by Thai Wrestling Champion Kritsada Kongsrichai in the early going, but the Filipino finally secured a full mount in the last minute of the opening frame, and submitted Kongsrichai via rear-naked choke soon thereafter.

Pacio now hopes to rebound from his loss to Suzuki with a win over Doliguez.